HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team hit the court Friday evening for the first Big South Conference match of the season. Welcoming the Highlanders of Radford University to the Millis Center, the Panthers dominated on the court and swept the match in three sets.
"I was curious how we would respond after a tough weekend last weekend playing three top-15 teams, head coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We had a great week of practice and I felt like we were ready, and we came out and showed it. Having a team hit .000 and us hit over .300 shows we bounced back. I think the greatest thing is just seeing the even distribution among all of our players. It was great to see the balance and us win as a team."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Radford 0
Records: High Point (7-6, 1-0), Radford (1-9, 0-1)
High Point had a solid performance as a team, going for a .341 hit percentage with 12 blocks.
BayLea Sparks had one of her best nights all around this season going 8-for-10 in kills while adding in six blocks.
Dylan Maberry led the way with 10 kills for a .286 hit percentage. Contributing to the teams success on defense, libero
Jordyn Schilling took charge on the back row diving all over the court and picking up nine digs to lead the team.
Pressing on early, the Panthers strolled to a 10-point lead in the first set at 20-10. Two back-to-back kills from Maberry kept the lead at 10 with a 24-14 advantage before a service error from the Highlanders finished off the set, 25-15.
Still bringing the heat in the second set, High Point pushed to a 7-3 lead. Sparks caught fire midway through with a stretch of three kills in the middle from setter
Allie Gray. Sparks' kills formed a 9-2 run which led to back-to-back hits from
Kennedy Louisell to make it 21-12. A Maberry hit ended the second set, 25-14.
The Highlanders kept the pressure on the Panthers in the third set, hanging within two points at 14-12. Not letting the game get any closer, four straight points for HPU bumped the led up to 18-12 to add some cushion. Multiple kills from
Jayde Shelton helped High Point cruise to the 25-18 victory and a 3-0 sweep.
UP NEXT:
The Panthers have a week off until they hit the road for a Friday night matchup at Winthrop beginning at 6:00 pm.
#GoHPU
